EF Education First Drapac is taking a fresh roster with the objective of winning stages to the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

The American formation will have one true climber, two new sprinters and four Classics experts. "I think Valencia is a really good opportunity for us to start playing a little bit with our new sprint capabilities in Dan McLay and Sacha Modolo," said the team's CEO Jonathan Vaughters.

"That’s what I’m looking for this week more so than a general classification performance."

Pierre Roland will tackle the two climbing stages of the Spanish race. "For the climbing days, stage two and stage four, we can go into the breakaways," commented sports director Ken Vanmarcke. "We’ll see what’s possible. Maybe on the second stage the break has a real chance to stay in the front, and even if not, then somebody gets a really good training day."

The team has been training in Spain and the riders have high expectations for their opening of the European season. "With the two sprinters we have there, we have to go for a win," affirmed Vanmarcke. "There are two sprint stages, and we tried everything on the Parcmotor Castelloí circuit last Thursday. We have to go full on the sprint days."

McLay is optimistic as well. "Between me and Sacha, I expect we’ll find our way and have a good go in the sprints," he explained. "There will be a little bit of learning, but there’s no point in hesitating. We’ll give it our best effort."

He is, however a little more reserved about the team time trial. "There will be a nice taste of blood in the throat on Friday, I reckon."